My bride went to the bank today and had to give a code-word to the bank, for a special transaction, to insure that when she calls, they will know it is actually her. She gave a Bible verse as the code, a particular reference to a psalm, something like “Psalm 3:3.”
The woman, kind and responsive, started to write but immediately Stephnie realized that she didn’t know how to write a Bible verse reference. The woman, middle management and in her mid 40’s, looked up for help. Stephnie told her, “its a Bible verse in the book of psalms”. “Oh,” said the bank manager as she opened up her desk drawer and pulled out a pocket New Testament from Gideon’s that included Psalms and Proverbs. “Would it be in here?” Stephnie nodded yes and watched the woman look into the table of contents, but she still wasn’t finding it. Stephnie helped her find Matthew, Mark, Luke and turned to Psalms and the verse that she wanted to use as her code word. The woman read it out loud with a questioning look because the King James version wasn’t clear to her. At which point, Stephnie quoted the verse in her memorized version (New American Standard Bible) and the woman responded with, “Oh I like that version better.”
There is a crisis in America of Bible illiteracy. The story above illustrates that. But it is not only outside the church. Too many people who say they love the Bible, who attend Bible believing/teaching churches are not reading their Bibles. This is a decadal trend that has gone into hyperdrive in the digital age. Most of us, most days, spend more time trolling social media than we do in reading, studying, meditating or memorizing the word of God. People in every age have always been distracted from the Scripture by other things. The difference is that in our time, the things that we are distracted by ARE NOT NECESSARY TO LIFE. In our time, people are distracted by optional entertainment and curiosities. It’s as if we have never read and certainly don’t believe, what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4:
But He . . . said, “It is written,
‘Man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
Maybe if we “hung on every word (Luke 19:48) that came from the mouth of Christ we would have more of Christ, more of His will, more of His power, more of His peace in our lives. And maybe, there would be fewer 45 year old bank managers who don’t know their way around the Bible and even more, fewer 45 year olds who don’t know the Lord of glory.
ChosenRebel's Blog 
I am inspired by Stephnie’s boldness to turn her experience into a teachable moment. Thank you for reminding me to be aware of the spiritual need of people I come in contact with.
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